Chapter 819: The Waters of This Red Chamber Run Deep

"Save the Jia clan from collapse, and lead the Jia family to the pinnacle."

This is the mission for Tang Luo and the others this time.

It bears some resemblance to that previous mission "Protect the Great You Dynasty's national fortune for a hundred years" — one protects a nation's fortune for a century, this one saves a clan and pushes it to the peak.

Hard to say which is simpler.

Judging by feel, protecting a nation's fortune still seems more grand and majestic.

That mission briefing was also quite lengthy, giving a fair amount of intelligence about the mission world.

This time there's just the Jia clan, nothing else at all.

More information lies in the "roles" being played.

In the Great You mission, Tang Luo and the others were typical outsiders; this mission is roleplay, with corresponding identities assigned directly.

Zhu Bajie, Ao Yulie, and Tang Luo did not appear in the same place, so Ao Yulie was chattering away there, asking where Tang Luo and the others were and what their identities were.

From his tone, he was positively excited, like a child who got a new toy, a player who just downloaded a game.

"Let me 'take a look'." Tang Luo said.

This roleplay isn't like the previous few times, where they were completely in the dark, knowing nothing.

At least a bit of basic information was given.

The person Tang Luo plays is named Jia Rong, a scion of the Jia clan that needs saving in the mission, plus some simple character relationships.

Tang Luo casually "glanced over it," not examining closely.

He couldn't care less what his identity actually is; when needed, discarding this false identity at any moment is a basic operation.

"As expected."

Hearing Tang Luo state his identity, Ao Yulie's tone grew excited, "Dream of the Red Chamber, Master! Dream of the Red Chamber!"

Journey to the West, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Dream of the Red Chamber, Water Margin — the Four Great Classics known to every Huaxia child.

"Oh, no wonder it seemed a bit familiar, so it's the world of Dream of the Red Chamber?" Tang Luo acted very calm.

Among the Four Great Classics, his familiarity with Dream of the Red Chamber is the lowest; naturally Journey to the West is the highest.

But at least he knows there are the Twelve Beauties of Jinling in Dream of the Red Chamber, secondary and primary registers, numerous young ladies — no wonder Ao Yulie is so excited.

That suave young master Jade Dragon has probably already set a subtitle for this God-Demon mission — Save the Red Chamber Maidens!

"Your identity is Jia Baoyu?" Tang Luo asked.

Given his level of familiarity with Dream of the Red Chamber, he remembered a few female names; for males, he only knows Jia Baoyu.

The male lead bearing the title "Number One Incompetent Under Heaven, Ancient and Modern Unparalleled Unworthy."

"Uh, no, my identity is Jia Huan." Ao Yulie's tone instantly dropped.

If he could choose, he'd naturally want to be Jia Baoyu; that identity suits his Jade Dragon Young Master persona better.

"Who? Don't know him." Tang Luo expressed he didn't recognize the name.

Dream of the Red Chamber is full of "Jia this, Jia that," Tang Luo doesn't recognize a single one.

"Jia Baoyu's younger brother, born of a concubine, the kind with zero status." Ao Yulie said helplessly, "Second Senior Brother, what's your role?"

"Hmph hmph." Zhu Bajie snorted twice, "Jiao Da."

Aside from not sharing the Jia surname, who the hell is Jiao Da? Tang Luo and Ao Yulie were equally baffled.

Ao Yulie's interest in Dream of the Red Chamber lies entirely in the young ladies; he's cut from the same cloth as Jia Baoyu — not assigning him the role of Jia Baoyu is indeed a bit of a pity.

"A lowly servant, but this old man served Ningguo Duke Jia Yan; although he's an old retainer, his standing in the manor doesn't seem low." Zhu Bajie said.

"Who the hell is Jia Yan?"

Tang Luo and Ao Yulie simultaneously turned into Li Yunlong.

No wonder a single Dream of the Red Chamber feeds a whole horde of Redology scholars — just the pile of Jia family names gives Tang Luo a splitting headache.

"Master! Why not let me handle this mission, and single-handedly turn the tide?"

Ao Yulie said.

Sun Wukong, Yang Jian, and Xiaotian Quan all remain inside the Palm Buddha Realm, not appearing.

Although they joined the Gray Mist group chat, the Palm Buddha Realm is isolated from outside contact; they can't hear Ao Yulie whining away in here.

They also aren't God-Demon Walkers, so they won't be assigned identities.

Sha Wujing is the same.

Only Tang Luo, Zhu Bajie, and Ao Yulie have relevant identities.

In the world of Dream of the Red Chamber, Ao Yulie feels he can clear it with a single finger.

This mission is truly simple.

"You think this mission is simple, Little White Dragon?" Zhu Bajie asked.

"Isn't it simple?" Ao Yulie said.

"The God-Demon Game wouldn't be merciful to that extent." Zhu Bajie said, "Think about it — which mission we've experienced hasn't been beyond-spec difficulty."

"Cough cough." Ao Yulie coughed twice, "I actually feel it has something to do with how we complete missions."

Normal God-Demon Walkers constantly lower the difficulty of completing missions.

Tang Luo's group is the exception; they go the opposite way, every mission completion they push toward raising the difficulty continuously.

In hindsight, they realize many times a different choice would have made completing the mission much simpler.

"This is Master's twenty-sixth mission, it absolutely won't be simple. On the contrary, I feel the waters in this world run very deep." Zhu Bajie warned.

"Why?" Ao Yulie asked, not to argue but out of curiosity.

"What exactly did you read in Dream of the Red Chamber." Zhu Bajie said irritably, "Jia Baoyu in Dream of the Red Chamber is the reincarnation of the Divine Attendant Shen Ying, transformed from the stone Nuwa used to mend the heavens."

"Isn't that just the ancients' gilding technique?" Ao Yulie found it strange, "Like Liu Bang the white snake sort of thing. Among the Four Great Classics, three have xianxia mythological backgrounds, even Romance of the Three Kingdoms can borrow the east wind and use the Seven-Star Lamp to extend life."

Journey to the West goes without saying; Water Margin is also the operation of 108 Demon Stars descending to the world, cast from the same mold as Dream of the Red Chamber.

Of course, this kind of immortal-demon background has no real impact on the actual story.

"If it wasn't used in the original, does that mean it's not used in this mission world?" Zhu Bajie said, "The surrounding heaven and earth spiritual energy is so rich, I wouldn't find it strange if some Nüwa suddenly jumped out."

"Hmm..."

Ao Yulie fell into deep thought. Oh right, this is a god-demon game.

Who knows what will happen.

It absolutely cannot be viewed as a normal Dream of the Red Chamber.

"Master, what do you think?" Zhu Bajie asked, "Hmm, master?"

He asked Tang Luo a question, but received no response.

Zhu Bajie found it strange: Master, why aren't you speaking?

"Whether the water is deep or not, you'll know once you test it." Tang Luo said.

"How to test?" Ao Yulie asked.

"There's a fool who came knocking, so we'll test it that way." Tang Luo got out of bed.

The time they entered the mission world was exactly nighttime, and outside was silent and still.

Ao Yulie and Zhu Bajie were both lying down asleep.

However, one was lying on a soft mat, the other on a hard wooden board.

Tang Luo was different—he lay not only on a soft bed mat, but also had a beauty beside him.

As soon as he entered, he received benefits, though it's unfortunate that details cannot be elaborated.

In the character information Tang Luo received, the Jia Rong he is now portraying is already married, and his wife is called Qin Keqing.

Given Tang Luo's poor knowledge of Dream of the Red Chamber, he truly cannot recall who this woman actually is.

As for the Twelve Beauties of Jinling, Tang Luo only knows Lin Daiyu and Xue Baochai, and that's it.

As for anything related to spring or similar, he only has a vague impression.

Who knows which one Qin Keqing is.

As for Tang Luo's mention of testing the depths, it has nothing to do with Qin Keqing—he heard someone outside pounding on the door.

While pounding, he also shouted "Keqing" twice, and that voice was clearly male.

What on earth is going on?

Tang Luo expressed confusion.

Stepping out of the inner chamber, there were no maidservants waiting in the outer room. Tang Luo saw that the tightly closed door had almost been smashed open.

The door bolt behind the door was not just a piece of hard wood—it was also wrapped in a layer of quite thick iron plating, which ordinary people could not break open.

It is clear that the intruder possesses considerable strength, surpassing that of an average person.

The man outside pounding on the door shouted "Keqing" several times, received no response, then switched to calling "Keqing's daughter-in-law," his voice echoing.

After shouting a few times, his tone suddenly changed: "Jia Rong, you unfilial beast, why don't you come over and open the door for your old man!"

"Do you still dare to block your old man from entering?"

One can hear the heavy influence of alcohol in his voice.

"Jia Zhen."

Tang Luo now understood the identity of the person pounding on the door outside.

He somewhat understood why this person was pounding so loudly, and why no servants or similar figures came to stop him.

Jia Zhen is Jia Rong's father, the head of the household, and again, in the middle of the night he's beating daughters-in-law—what servant would dare come forward to stop him?

Has he got a death wish?

Tang Luo knows Jia Zhen, still relying on the information given by the god-demon game.

As he walked over to open the door, Tang Luo asked along the way: "Is Jia Zhen having an affair with Qin Keqing?"

"Ah, yes!" Ao Yulie replied extremely quickly, "Cough cough cough—"

Then he burst into loud coughing again. Now that Tang Luo is playing Jia Rong, that would mean...

He quickly tried to make amends: "However, Qin Keqing is one of the great mysteries of Dream of the Red Chamber—her identity and death are both shrouded in mystery. His affair with Jia Zhen might conceal other secrets. Moreover, there's a timeline involved—it's possible they haven't even hooked up yet."

"Oh." Tang Luo gave a casual reply as he walked to the door.

Before he could open it, the door bolt snapped just right, and Jia Zhen staggered in, reeking of strong alcohol.

Regaining his footing, he glared at Tang Luo and slurred: "What, just took a wife and forgot your father?"

Speaking, he swung a slap toward him.

Despite his unsteady stance, it still carried a whistling wind sound.

"Oh?" Tang Luo slightly raised his eyebrows, then struck back with a backhand ear slap—first to act, he swung through the air.

Jia Zhen was whipped so hard he flew into the air spinning, like a top, flying out of the room and crashing into the corridor outside.

The alcohol in his system instantly sobered up by half, then he flared with rage, pointing at Tang Luo as if to shout curses.

Tang Luo stepped on his face with one foot, forcing Jia Zhen's words back down.

Jia Zhen's back of the head made intimate contact with the corridor's stone slabs.

The stone slabs sank inward, cracks spread, and Jia Zhen successfully proved his head was harder than the stone slab.

But his hardness was also quite limited—this kick directly knocked him unconscious.

Well, just knocked him unconscious, not killed him.

Tang Luo lifted his foot, rubbed it twice on the ground, as if wiping off some dirt.

"The water in this world isn't shallow, Little White Dragon—enough for you to flop around in." Tang Luo said while grinding his shoe.

"... Is this really a xianxia Dream of the Red Chamber?" Ao Yulie exclaimed in surprise.

"I gave Jia Zhen two strikes. I controlled the force—ordinary people won't die, but will be seriously injured; he just fainted." Tang Luo said, "What do you think?"